Perisher’s historic Skitube alpine railway train has been given a new lease of life thanks to multi-disciplined artist Mike Shankster’s large-scale mural covering of four train carriages, created with help from Ukrainian artist Arina Apostolova.
“Perisher holds a special place in my heart,” said Mike, whose parents once owned Perisher Valley’s Willow Lodge. “Spending time here brings back a lot of memories from my childhood skiing between Perisher and Smiggins with my brother and sister. The smell of bush and calm environment is something I’m always eager to get back to.”
The pair spent two weeks covering the carriages with nature-inspired abstract art depicting blurred landscapes, such as gum leaves, to mimic the view from a train’s carriage as you’re travelling through the Kosciuszko National Park on the way to Perisher Ski Resort.
“My latest artwork revolves around the mountains’ contrasting nature, with its harsh and unforgiving winters and fresh summers,” said Mike, who has produced many large-scale public art pieces, such as at Queanbeyan’s Moore Park Skate Bowl, which he also worked on with Apostolova.
His artwork is inspired from an early love of comic books and cartoons, as well as later influences such as action sports, urban and rural landscapes, people and wildlife, concrete and culture. His aim is to use bold imagery to capture the magic of the world around him.
The Skitube alpine railway is a Swiss-designed rack-rail train system that opened in August 1988 and was introduced to improve entry to the Perisher Range ski fields, which can be affected by snow and ice during winter. It remains an easy and safe way to access the resort.
It travels through a tunnel in the Ramshead Range to Perisher Resort, stopping in the underground station at Perisher Valley. It then heads to Blue Cow via another tunnel through the Perisher Range. The tunnel is Australia’s longest transport tunnel at 6.3km long, and at its deepest point is 550m below the surface. Since its start of operations in 1987, Skitube has carried over 4 million passengers in comfort and safety.
The freshly painted carriages will be officially unveiled to the public on opening weekend of the 2023 snow season on 10 June.
www.perisher.com.au
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